Manasquan senior Jack O'Reilly. (Photo: Patrick Olivero)

Winning Time: Manasquan Continues Resurgence with Win at Rumson

Matt Manley|February 4, 2026|Last Updated February 4, 2026

RUMSON — Over the past seven seasons, the Manasquan boys basketball team has accomplished a number of firsts for the program under the direction of coach Andrew Bilodeau while establishing itself as one of the top public-school basketball teams in New Jersey, if not the best public-school basketball team in New Jersey.

This season, however, the headlines involving the Warriors have been more dubious.

Their All-Shore guard, junior Rey Weinseimer, has yet to play a game this season due to a knee injury.

At the Kevin Williams Christmas Classic in December, they lost to Wall for the first time this century and did so while scoring four points in the first half and 20 points in the game. Two days later, they outscored Jackson, 20-0, in the second quarter and lost. Manasquan finished the three-game tournament 1-2 with an average of 31.3 points per game and that was with an overtime period included.

In the middle of January, Rumson-Fair Haven ended a nine-game losing streak against Manasquan by hammering the Warriors by 18 points in Manasquan, and did so without 6-foot-9 All-Shore senior Luke Cruz.

Finally, this past Friday, the Warriors traveled to Holmdel High School and dropped a game to the Hornets for first time since 2010-11, which was also the last season in which Manasquan finished with a losing record. To make matters worse, the Holmdel loss was the start of a stretch of five games in seven days for Manasquan and Holmdel figured to be one of the more beatable opponents during that stretch.

With a record of 8-7 following the loss to Holmdel and upcoming games against Thrive Charter of Trenton, Red Bank, Rumson-Fair Haven and Christian Brothers Academy — all except Red Bank on the road — Manasquan was facing the very real prospect of its first losing season in 15 years.

Since that loss to Holmdel, however, Manasquan has changed the narrative of their season in just four days thanks to wins like the one they authored Tuesday night in Rumson, where the Warriors overcame a slow start and closed out a 43-32 win over Rumson-Fair Haven — the No. 6 team in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10. In the last four days, Manasquan has won all three of its games, starting with an impressive 53-41 win over Thrive that, along with Tuesday’s win, book-ended a 44-39 win over Red Bank.

Manasquan sophomore Sean Bilodeau. (Photo: Patrick Olivero) - Manasquan at Rumson

Manasquan sophomore Sean Bilodeau. (Photo: Patrick Olivero)

“I saw us get thumped by a really good Holmdel team and respond the next day against Thrive and have one of the biggest wins of any team in the Shore this year, which was really impressive to see from our guys,” Bilodeau said. “And then we responded tonight. Maybe we’re growing up a little bit, but we’ve still got a lot of lessons to learn.”

“We lost to Holmdel and had Thrive the next day and those games are tough,” junior forward Logan Cleveland said. “They teach us good lessons. You have to learn how to move on and get better. We have to play hard and follow our culture. We were slacking off more than we should and that cost us Friday against a good team and we bounced back on Saturday and are just trying to keep up that focus and intensity.”

With six of Manasquan’s eight rotation regulars playing their first season of varsity basketball and just two seniors among those eight, Manasquan has played another challenging schedule that has led to some ugly losses, but has left Bilodeau’s team with a sharpened edge heading into the final week of the regular season before the Shore Conference Tournament. Manasquan now heads into a Thursday road rematch with CBA at 11-7 overall and playing its best basketball of the season with the battle scars of a trying season visible in their record.

Bilodeau would not have it any other way.

“We’re very fortunate, but also tasked with playing a really hard schedule: by choice in non-division, but also in-division, which is awesome. I love it,” Bilodeau said. “But, that brings with it a challenge that every single night, you’ve got to be ready to throw hands. That’s hard. With a quality opponent every night, it’s really tough, and for the most part, we have answered the bell. I’d like to think it’s our time of year to hit our stride.

“I don’t know if people realize that you can be five hundred (winning percentage) and still win big stuff at the end, as opposed to programs who win twenty games and have no hardware. We’ll take the hardware and the rough patches, if that’s the choice.”

Tuesday’s victory against a team that has become its arch nemesis at the Shore over the last decade played out much like Manasquan’s season has played out. Most of the first half was an exercise in offensive futility for Manasquan, but the Warriors made sure it was the same for Rumson on the other end of the floor. Then, the half ended with a dose of hope, when the Warriors scored five points in the last 90 seconds after scoring eight in the first 14:30 to go into the half trailing 15-13. Morale was even higher for Manasquan thanks to senior Jack O’Reilly, who flung in a three-pointer off the glass at the halftime buzzer to cut the lead to two — a rare field-goal attempt from outside the paint from the 6-foot-4 third-year starter.

“It’s still chunky peanut butter out there,” Bilodeau said. “There are some really bad moments where we look really bad at times. When the other team has the ball, though, we look pretty good. I just wish we could look that good on offense. We’re growing up and we’re figuring some things out. Guys are rounding into form.”

The offense for both teams remained stuck in neutral until sophomore Sean Bilodeau, the son of Manasquan’s 18th-year head coach, caught fire from the field. After going scoreless in the first half, Bilodeau scored all 12 of his points in the second half, which started with a mid-range jumper off a screen from O’Reilly that made the score 17-15 in favor of Rumson. The sophomore guard later hit a three-pointer that gave Manasquan a 21-19 edge, its first lead since 2-0.

“We came in at halftime and (Andrew Bilodeau) said, ‘We’re getting good quality shots and they are going to fall,'” Sean Bilodeau said. “We believed that, we trusted him and that worked out well.”

From there, the third quarter became a back-and-forth battle that had the makings of another memorable finish in the rivalry between Manasquan and Rumson — a rivalry Manasquan owned from 2019 to 2025 before Rumson’s 65-47 win at Manasquan earlier this season. Cruz answered Bilodeau’s three with one of his own, followed by a four-point possession for Bilodeau in which he hit one of two free throws following an intentional foul, then knocked down a corner three-pointer in the waning seconds of the third to make it 25-22.

Rumson, however, answered at the buzzer, when senior Blake Ahmann banked in a running three-pointer from in front of Rumson’s student section, which sent the Bulldogs into the quarter break with some momentum despite being locked in a 25-25 tie with the visiting Warriors.

From there, however, Manasquan took control. The Warriors went on a 7-0 run over the first three-plus minute of the fourth, with Cleveland and O’Reilly each scoring in the paint and Bilodeau drilling his third three of the half to make it 32-25. After nailing the shot, Bilodeau turned to the Rumson students and put his hand to his hear after the Dawg Pound focused its ire on him for most of the game — a dynamic Sean Bilodeau has grown accustomed to as the sophomore son of a successful, animated head coach.

“It’s nothing new and he (Andrew Bilodeau) has prepared me for it,” Sean Bilodeau said of the heckling. “Coming into sophomore year, I knew I’d get chirped, but it’s just the way you respond. We quieted them (the student section) and they left pretty quickly after that.”

Cruz finally got Rumson on the board in the fourth with a three-pointer out of a timeout and the teams traded points, with Rumson junior Casey Moore scoring off an offensive rebound to make it 34-30. When Manasquan missed a pair of free throws, Rumson appeared to own the momentum when Ahmann earned a trip to the free-throw line with 1:37 left.

Ahmann missed both free throws and Moore missed a follow-up that resulted in Cleveland going to the free-throw line, where he made the first of his two attempts. Rumson again had a chance to make up ground but could not score and to make matters worse for the Bulldogs, Cruz fouled out with just over a minute to go.

Manasquan then put the game away by hitting its final eight free throws to finish up an 11-for-14 (78 percent) showing from the line during the fourth quarter.

“I’ve been on the bench before and seen those big wins over Rumson,” said Sean Bilodeau, whose father has overseen NJSIAA sectional final wins by Manasquan over Rumson in each of the past two seasons. “This one felt great. The crowd was chirping me, Luke (Lydon) was chirping me, but we got the job done and it felt amazing.”

Rumson-Fair Haven senior Luke Cruz puts up a shot over Manasquan junior Logan Cleveland. (Photo: Patrick Olivero) - Manasquan at Rumson

Rumson-Fair Haven senior Luke Cruz puts up a shot over Manasquan junior Logan Cleveland. (Photo: Patrick Olivero)

Bilodeau handed out three assists to go with his team-high 12 points, while Cleveland added 10 points and nine rebounds. O’Reilly also pitched in nine points, nine rebounds and three assists while neutralizing Ahmann, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds. In the Rumson win at Manasquan on Jan. 15, Ahmann played the best game of his career, scoring 35 points while grabbing 18 rebounds.

“Ahmann was human tonight,” Andrew Bilodeau said. “He was super-human at Manasquan. We showed the kids some things we could do better against him and I thought they responded pretty well. They are super athletic. Even their youngest kid is six-two, six three. They are way more athletic than we are, so I thought Jack and Logan did a great job on the glass and I thought (sophomore) Noah Matuch gave us really good minutes and our guards held their own on the glass as well, which is where they can really beat you.”

“I was spread out on offense a little more in the first half and took some shots,” said Cleveland, who knocked down a three-pointer early in the third quarter to cut Rumson’s lead to one. “(Coach Bilodeau) told me to get down low because we wanted to get motion, spread out and get some rebounds, so just stay down there and try to get some easy baskets and second chances for us.”

After missing the first meeting between Rumson and Manasquan while recovering from an eye injury that has forced him to wear protective goggles since his return, Cruz made a major difference for Rumson Tuesday with 17 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots. His scoring and rebounding numbers were below his season averages, but against Manasquan’s deliberate style with long possessions and physical defense, Cruz was the only Rumson player who had a relatively easy time finding a high-percentage shot while also taking away several of Manasquan’s high-percentage opportunities with the six blocks.

“We like the match-up better with Cruz because we try to play two bigs,” Andrew Bilodeau said. “When he is not on the court, they are really athletic and we have to make some tough decisions. He is arguably the best player in the Shore, in my opinion, and I think the sky is the limit for that kid. He is a shot-maker and he is a match-up nightmare, but for us, trying to play two bigs, it’s at least a better size match-up for us.”

Rumson beat Manasquan in mid-January despite senior guard Luke Lydon going scoreless and Manasquan again made a point of keeping Lydon off the board on Tuesday. The senior guard, who scored 38 points in a win over No. 4 Red Bank Catholic in December, finished with two points on Tuesday. Manasquan also held freshman guard Clint Martin to two points on a pair of free throws after Martin entered the game averaging 10.1 points per game.

“The scouting report was take away Lydon and take away Cruz, but it was tough,” Sean Bilodeau said. “Jack-O really turned it up this game. He locked (Ahmann) down. He had a thirty-point game the last time and he took that personally and really responded today.”

Manasquan will attempt to ride its recent momentum into a rematch with CBA on Thursday after Manasquan nearly shocked the Colts in Manasquan when the teams met on Jan. 20. In that game, Manasquan trailed by, 37-20, with 10:30 left and rallied to within 46-45 with three minutes left before CBA pulled out the 50-46 win.

In addition to going into the Shore Conference Tournament with momentum, Manasquan could also be heading into the SCT with a full healthy roster. According to Bilodeau, Weinseimer has returned to practice and although he did not play on Tuesday, he dressed for warm-ups. Bilodeau said he expects Weinseimer, who is rounding out his recovery from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, to play in some capacity during the Shore Conference Tournament, although it might require the Warriors to win a round or two without him as Bilodeau would not commit to a definitive date.

“Rey is going to play in the Shore Conference Tournament at some point,” Bilodeau said of Weinseimer, who averaged 16.4 points as a sophomore to lead the Group II champions in scoring and already has 740 points despite missing all 18 games of his junior year so far. “He is rounding into form and doing some things. I don’t know what the future holds for him, but he will be physically able to play. We will see what happens.”

With some version of Weinseimer, Manasquan would begin to look like an on-paper favorite to win a seventh straight NJSIAA sectional championship with a chance to win its third Group II championship in the last four years. Even without the All-Shore junior guard, the Warriors have shown they should not be counted out against anybody.

“There was always going to be bumps in the road,” Sean Bilodeau said. “Now, it’s winning time and coming into winning time, Manasquan wins. We know that name is not going to carry us, but we will.”

 

Related Articles